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The Federal Trade Commission says a Massachusetts-based company has mined Facebook to create profiles at Jerk.com, where people can vote "jerk" or "not a jerk." The company misled consumers into believing they could remove their information by paying $30, the FTC alleged.
(Jerk.com)

The Federal Trade Commission has charged Jerk.com with misleading consumers that someone they knew created a profile about them and labeled them “Jerk.” Consumers were told to remove the label they had to pay Jerk.com $30, the FTC alleges.

Need help?

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at 202-326-3300 or online.

You can also file a complaint with the Oregon Department of Justice online or by calling 877-877-9392.

In fact, the FTC alleges, Jerk.com and its operator John Fanning mined data and images from Facebook.com between 2009 and 2013, and created profiles for more than 73 million people, including children.

Fanning and other representatives from Jerk.com could not be reached for comment.

In one entry on the site dated May 22, 2013, someone posted the picture of a car and its license plate with the entry, “He is a jerk because he was sitting at a green light for almost 20 seconds when a bunch of cars were behind him, almost creating a riskier situation that could lead to an accident. This driver was not paying attention. This should serve as a reminder to all drivers to pay attention on the road.

In a complaint filed Monday, the FTC alleged that even when consumers attempted to pay $30 to remove the “jerk” label or $25 to contact Jerk.com customer service, they received nothing in return.

The FTC seeks to bar the company from continuing to use the personal information they “improperly obtained” and delete the information it already has.

Jerk.com profiles appeared in search engine results when people searched for a name and also featured photos, such as children bathing and a mother nursing a baby, which FTC complainants said had been designated “private” on Facebook.